Vescovi Wins the Brazilian Championship Again and Again and … Seven Times!

Giovanni Portilho Vescovi was born June 14, 1978 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He became an IM in 1993 and a GM in 1998. In 1998, he won a gold medal in the World Junior Team Championship (U-20) playing first board for Brazil. In 2001, he won the South American Championship. Since becoming a grandmaster he has repeatedly won the Brazilian Championship and tied the record of seven titles earlier set by Joao de Souza Mendes, who did it from 1927-1958. Vescovi won in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.

Vescovi scored 8.5/11 with six wins against the bottom six finishers and five draws against the top five finishers below Vescovi himself. He led the field at the end by 1.5 points. The following game against GM Rafael Leitao is an example of Vescovi’s solid play with the white pieces. Leitao used the Slav Defense. Vescovi played in what seems a new way to go for an endgame with chances to win or draw. In the endgame, each player had two rooks and six pawns. The imbalance in the game was due to a black isolated pawn that Vescovi kept the pressure on. After Vescovi won a pawn, the endgame was a clear win.